Twenty years of experimental art from a globalized China

The Guggenheim's landmark survey of contemporary Chinese Art -- the largest exhibition ever mounted in the US

The book begins in 1989 with the close of the cold War and ends in 2008 the year of the Beijing Olympics (where both Ai Wei Wei and were part of the artistic team working on the ceremonies). The book presents contemporary art in China art in the context of the end of the Cold War, the spread of globalization, and the rise of China. It shows how Chinese artists have been both agents and skeptics of China's growth as a world power and Includes over 70 artists and collectives. The best-known artists in the book are Ai Weiwei, Cai Guo-Qiang, Cao Fei, Chen Zhen, Rem Koolhaas/OMA, Liu Wei, Liu Xiaodong, Song Dong, Wang Guangyi, Wang Jianwei, Xu Bing, Zeng Fanzhi, Zhang Peili, and Zhao Gang. The artwork spans media, film, video, ink, installation, Land art, performance, as well as painting and photography.

PROMO: This is the LARGEST exhibition of contemporary Chinese art ever mounted in the US. It opens at the Guggenheim in Fall 2017 and travels to SFMOMA in Fall 2018 (after going to Guggenheim Biblbao). Expect press coverage in New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker as well as in the art press: ARTFORUM, Hperallergic, Art & Auction, and others.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Alexandra Munroe is Senior Curator, Asian Art, at the Guggenheim. Philip Tinari is Director of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing. He has previously worked as China representative for Art Basel and contributing editor to Artforum. Hou Hanru is Artistic Director of MAXXI, National Museum of the 21st Century Arts, Rome. He was director of exhibitions and public programs at the San Francisco Art Institute from 2006-12.

WEST COAST INTEREST: Show travels to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in Fall 2018.

Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World

Twenty years of experimental art from a globalized China

Published on the occasion of the largest exhibition of contemporary art from China ever mounted in North America, organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World explores recent experimental art from 1989 to 2008, arguably the most transformative period of modern Chinese and recent world history.

Featuring over 150 iconic and lesser-known artworks by more than 70 artists and collectives, this catalog offers an interpretative survey of Chinese experimental art framed by the geopolitical dynamics attending the end of the Cold War, the spread of globalization and the rise of China. Critical essays explore how Chinese artists have been both agents and skeptics of China’s arrival as a global presence, while an extensive entry section offers detailed analysis on works made in a broad range of experimental mediums, including film and video, ink, installation, land art and performance, as well as painting and photography.

Published on the occasion of the largest exhibition of contemporary art from China ever mounted in North America, organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World explores recent experimental art from 1989 to 2008, arguably the most transformative period of modern Chinese and recent world history.

Featuring over 150 iconic and lesser-known artworks by more than 70 artists and collectives, this catalog offers an interpretative survey of Chinese experimental art framed by the geopolitical dynamics attending the end of the Cold War, the spread of globalization and the rise of China. Critical essays explore how Chinese artists have been both agents and skeptics of China’s arrival as a global presence, while an extensive entry section offers detailed analysis on works made in a broad range of experimental mediums, including film and video, ink, installation, land art and performance, as well as painting and photography.